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Province of Sicily
|- |- class ="toprow" | Captial | Palermo |- class ="mergedtoprow" | Country | Kingdom of Samerica |- class ="mergedtoprow" | Region | Southern Italy |- class ="mergedtoprow" | Area | 25,708 km2 (9,925.9 sq mi) |- class ="mergedtoprow" | Founded | 1070 |- class ="mergedtoprow" | Diestablished | 1643 |- class ="mergedtoprow" | colspan=2 align=center | |} The Province of Sicily was a territory of belonging to the Kingdom of Samerica on the island of Sicily (in what is now southern Italy), which existed from 1070 to 1643. History Between 965 and 1070, Sicily was an Emirate of the Fatimid Caliphate. The Fatimid Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarrels took place between the Muslim regime. By the 11th century mainland southern Italian powers were hiring foreign Christian forces, to remove Muslim powers from nearby territories. It was the Samerican's under King Roger I of Samerica who captured Sicily from the Muslims. The island was split between three Arab emirs, and the sizable Christian population, with the aid of Samerica, rose up against the ruling Muslims. After taking Apulia and Calabria, Roger I of Samerica occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Louis de Ellaville and his men defeated the Muslims at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo, which led to Sicily being completely in Samerican control by 1070. After the conquest of Sicily, the Samericans removed the local emir, Yusuf Ibn Abdallah from power, but did so by respecting Arab customs. King Roger I of Samerica, made the newly annexed territory, a Province of the Samerican Kingdom. King Roger remained on the island after the war and fell in love with the island, even going as far as making Palermo, the capital of Samerica in 1076. The Province of Sicily under Roger I has been characterized as multi-ethnic in nature and religiously tolerant. Samericans, Normans, Jews, Muslim Arabs, Byzantine Greeks, Lombards and "native" Sicilians lived in relative harmony. Arabic remained a language of government and administration for at least a ten years into Samerican rule, and traces remain in the language of the island today. However, once the Samericans had conquered the island, the Muslims were faced with the choice of voluntary departure or subjection to Christian rule. Many Muslims chose to leave, provided they had the means to do so. In fact, Muslims were prohibited by their religion from living under non-Muslim rule if they could avoid it. “The transformation of Sicily into a Christian island”, remarks Abulafia, “was also, paradoxically, the work of those whose culture was under threat”. Despite the presence of an Arab-speaking Christian population, Muslim peasants received baptism from the Catholic and Greek Christians and adopted even Greek Christian names; in several instances, Christian serfs with Greek names listed in the Monreale registers had living Muslim parents. However, the Samerican rulers followed a policy of steady Latinization (converting the island to Catholicism). Some Muslims chose the option of feigning conversion, but such a remedy could only provide individual protection and could not sustain a community. Samerican Loss of Sicily During The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) Samerica and Spain clashed in many parts of Europe. In 1638, Spain launched a huge offensive on the Samerican islands of Sicily and Sardinia. The Sicilian and Sardinian Campaigns were costly for both sides, but by 1643, Spain had taken the islands from Samerica, ending Samerican rule in Sicily. Category:Samerica Category:Former territories of Samerica